Thank you Gander

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I broke the tip off one of my newer rods last weekend. I took into Gander and the guy in the tackle dept. put a new tip on it. Total cost was a whopping $1.57

It was a Cabelas rod too. Yeah, it is now about 2" shorter, but it still works fine.

[goose89]

Might have gotten a new rod for nothing if you'd brought it back to C's. Nice to hear something 1/2 ways decent about GM anyways. good luck.....

[20lbSloughShark]

I love Gander Mountain! Honestly their $30 rods compare to most $100 ones, and usually have a better selection.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

+1 on that, had a tip replaced last year, same price. I asked twice that there must be some mistake, nope.

I prefer GM, maybe because its more home grown and I'm a homer

[GSP4ME]

I managed one of their departments for a number of years and that is what I looked for more then anything else. You can always teach about the product but you cant teach someone to and have them perform caring and being helpful.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

And now for the rest of the story: I was planning trip to Owatona to the big store and thought what the heck, I'll just bring the rod along and tell them what happened. If they replace it, great. If not, well it's a little shorter, but still works. I told them exactly what happened and when I bought it (a year ago in March) and to my pleasant surprise they gave me a brand new one!

I still I'm greatfull to Gander for fixing it though.

[Dbumb]

you could by there extended warranty and they fix it for you or give you a new one.

[Stick in Mud]

Yeah, I've been impressed with the service of all the outdoor stores...haven't had a bad experience (fingers crossed!) yet with one of them. I know others have some complaints, but I must have been lucky.

I just brought a rod back to Scheel's that I had for over ten years. I broke the tip off when it got between the gunwale of the canoe and a heavy food pack. I told the fella at Scheel's exactly how it happened--I was just hoping to get a new tip on it--and they gave me a brand new rod. Quite a deal.

[fish_eat_sleep]

I bought a gander rod for about $90 last season. The tip broke after a lot of use.. I fish almost every day, i felt lucky to have a 1 year protection plan that costs me $9.99 at the time i purchased the rod. call the 800 number, wait for a mailing label. send it in. 3 weeks later i got my gift card for a full refund. taxes and plan costs included for a total of $109 somthing thought it was a great investment. Then i bought a st croix with that. well long story short, i don't understand why it (the GSX rod) had a 3 year warranty printed on the tag. if they will not replace it for free. (gander brand with 3 year warranty.. i paid an extra $10 for a 1 year plan that took 3 weeks)

Only gander sells a store brand rod with a fake 3 year warranty.. i even asked someone in the fishing department this spring about that summit protection plan and why i need it for a store brand.. i mean a st. croix would cost $40 to send it over to wisconsin so that would make sense to get it replaced free for 1 year. i learned to be more careful with those stupid plans.. especially on a store brand that should have a real warranty..

I watched them sell a elderly lady a 2 year $60 service plan on a gas auger. Still don't see how that makes sense.. Strikemaster is pretty good being a minnesota company, they fix stuff for free or little charge at the factory most of the time for us ice fishing people.. and places like ace hardware are great with small engine carbs, plugs, and other things for a good price.

just be careful what you buy a summit extended warranty plan for. sometimes it saves your behind. sometimes you lose $60 before you drill your first hole..

cabelas always honored the store brand replacement policy. gander doesn't always do that i learned. although gander has its own local hometown feeling too. and does have good service, besides that warranty issue.

I'm not hating on gander, i buy a lot of quality gear through them. my point is.. Be smart when you shop. and know what your paying for.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Those warranties are mostly pure profit. They are offering them, not because you need them, but because they make more money that way. Heck even K-Mart offers them on just anything you buy that you don't eat.

[Stick in Mud]

Great points, fish-eat-sleep. One of the reasons I buy store brand rods is to avoid the hassle of shipping rods to the manufacturer and having to wait for it to be sent back. I'm impatient.

Another is because I've never had a problem just returning them to the store without having to hassle/worry about warranties.

Are the name brand rods "better" rods? Sure. But I'll take the trade-offs.